Police Building Their Case In Frankfort Hotel Killing

A Chicago woman was in custody in Will County on Tuesday, charged with murder in the March killing of a 25-year-old man at the Sybaris Club Suites, a hotel in Frankfort.

Will County Sheriff's Police declined to say why they believe Jacalyn Aratri, 33, shot John M. Fogelman while he was a guest at the hotel on March 16. Sheriff's officials said they did not want to tip their hand before the case is presented to a Will County grand jury this month.

Fogelman, who lived in the Mt. Greenwood community on Chicago's Far Southwest Side, was found shot to death in a suite of the hotel in the 7500 block of Lincoln Highway on the morning of March 16 by a maid. He was in bed, unclothed, and had been shot once in the forehead, sheriff's police said at the time.

Missing were about $1,000 in cash from his wallet and the green 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe in which he had arrived at the hotel the night before he was found. The vehicle was found abandoned at the River Oaks Shopping Center in Calumet City.

Toxicology tests on Fogelman's body showed he had taken marijuana and cocaine shortly before his death, authorities said. A search of the suite in which he was killed uncovered a small amount of marijuana, authorities said.

Police determined Aratri had known Fogelman for several weeks before the shooting and had been with him at the hotel. Authorities said she was arrested Friday by sheriff's police after voluntarily going to the Will County Sheriff's Police office to talk about the investigation. Under questioning by police, she admitted shooting Fogelman and taking his sport-utility vehicle, police alleged.

Sheriff's police officials said that Aratri had been a suspect all along.